The debut trailer for Deadpool 3 at last night’s Super Bowl brought a lot of excitement to fans. Of course, there was the return of Ryan Reynolds’ brassy hero but there were also a few more faces that were both of the expected and unexpected variety. Out of the latter camp, the trailer for Deadpool 3 saw a character previously killed off show his face again – Lewis Tan’s Shatterstar.

The Return Of Shatterstar

Surrounded by his closest friends and family, a piece of the trailer sees Wade Wilson aka Deadpool enjoying some cake and celebrating his birthday. The gang’s all there – from his fiancée Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) to Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) and her enthusiastic and Wade-loving girlfriend, Yukio (Shioli Kutsuna). Off to the side of the rest of the revelers in the Deadpool 3 trailer, standing next to Wade’s private car driver, Dopinder (Karan Soni), we can clearly see Shatterstar joining in with a smile and applause for another year well lived.

Shatterstar Dies In Deadpool 2

We know what you’re thinking – the end of Deadpool 2 saw Wade Wilson go back in time and undo a lot of things, including the death of Vanessa and X-Force’s Peter (Rob Delaney). So, while it’s understandable why we see both of those folks at Wade’s birthday party, it isn’t super clear why the Deadpool 3 trailer included Lewis Tan’s Shatterstar. Like most of the members of Deadpool’s elite team, Shatterstar met his end in the most horrifying way possible–in his case, after getting caught in the rotating blades of a helicopter.

We Don’t See Him Revived In Deadpool 2

After being sucked into the blades, the hero – who was an alien from Mojoworld – exploded into a million little pieces, with his green blood splattering all over the aircraft. Fast-forward to the end credits and Rusty aka Shatterstar wasn’t one of the souls that Wade found it in his heart to save. Still, it appears that Deadpool 3 will pull some kind of revival miracle to bring Shatterstar back from the grave as he’s featured clear as day among the very much-alive attendees of Wade’s party.

Deadpool And The TVA

Of all the surprises that the Deadpool 3 trailer brought us, an alive version of Shatterstar was just the beginning as the titular crime fighter and katana-wielder, fully tumbled into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, solidifying his place alongside the likes of the Avengers. In the clip, we saw Wade’s path crossing with The Time Variance Authority (TVA), a group first introduced in Marvel and Disney+’s uber-popular series, Loki. Not only does this bring Deadpool fully into the established MCU, but it shows that the story of the TVA will continue to tick along even following Loki’s ultimate sacrifice at the end of the show’s second (and presumably final) season.

Deadpool And Wolverine

And, while the Deadpool 3 first look had plenty of surprises like Shatterstar and the TVA, there were also other moments that we knew were coming but were nevertheless exciting. The main one is the moment when Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine appears at the tail end of the trailer, offering Deadpool a hand – or razor-sharp claw – off the ground.

Who Else Will Return?

The secrets held by Deadpool 3 don’t just include Shatterstar’s return to the fold but also have us on the edge of our seats to discover how and if Jennifer Garner’s Elektra will also make an appearance. Knowing that the TVA is involved, there’s plenty of possibility for timeline hopping but we won’t fully know to what ends this means until the Shawn Levy-directed feature arrives in cinemas on July 26.